Doha, 17th March 2011: A new Bariatric Team has been formed at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), which has introduced the latest Laparoscopic Gastric Plication surgical procedure to treat morbid obesity in patients. The Bariatric team has set for itself a target to conduct 500 such surgical procedures this year.

Dr. Michel Gagner from Canada, who has recently joined HMC as Clinical Professor of Surgery is leading the team of Bariatric specialists. Dr. Michel has been credited with pioneering the Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy and has now bought to the fore the latest Plication technique to Qatar.

"In Laparoscopic Gastric Plication we do folding of the outer curve of the stomach with sutures. There is no foreign body attached and there are minimal side effects of the technique. The volume of the stomach is reduced to 100 cc. Also the entire Plication technique is reversible," said Dr. Michel Gagner.

The latest procedure according to Dr. Michel is twice as good as banding technique and has also  similar results  to Sleeve Gastrectomy in which a substantial part of the stomach is surgically removed to treat morbid obesity.

The medical benefits of Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy for patients are enormous according to the doctors as statistics reveal that it improves type 2 diabetes in patients by 95%, reduces hypertension by 88%, high cholesterol by 73%, sleep apnea by 91% and also helps in reduction of joint pain y 70%. Plication has the same concept and is estimated to give similar results

According to Michel Gagner, the Plication technique usually takes less than 1 hour to complete. At present the patients are kept in observation for 1 or 2 days, but plans are been made to make the procedure an out patient service with immediate discharge.

Since the Laparoscopic Gastric Plication was introduced at HMC in February this year, four successful procedures have been performed. Two patients were operated for primary gastric plication. Two more cases which included banding removal ( never before reported) were performed by the Bariatric team at HGH.

"Since there is an epidemic of sorts of patients with gastric banding here in Qatar, the challenge before the Bariatric team is two fold. First to remove the banding and then carry out the Laparoscopic Gastric Plication for better weight loss and bring about a systemic change in the health of our patients, who are suffering from morbid obesity. Ultimately plication is going to replace gastric banding," said Dr. Mohammed Al Kuwari, who is part of the newly formed Bariatric team at HMC.

The Bariatric Team at HMC includes Dr. Michel Gagner, Dr. Hisham Allam, Dr. Moataz Bashah, Dr. Davit Sargsyan, Dr. Mohammed Al Kuwari and Dr. Mohammed Rizwan.

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About HMC:
Hamad Medical Corporation is the premier non-profit health care provider in Doha, Qatar.  It was established by Emiri decree in 1979 and manages five highly specialized hospitals, namely, Hamad General Hospital, Rumailah Hospital, Women's Hospital, Al Amal Hospital and Al Khor Hospital.  Since its establishment, HMC has rapidly developed medical facilities capable of providing state-of-the-art diagnosis and treatment of diseases that previously could only be managed in overseas medical centers.

HMC prides itself in providing quality and cost efficient health care for all patients regardless of nationality, in line with the State of Qatar's pledge of "Health for All".  For this purpose, the Corporation implements a policy of continuous improvement of all management systems and patient care protocols. HMC's ethos is based on three key pillars which are Health, Education and Research. Please visit: www.hmc.org.qa

For more information, please contact:
Marketing and Public Relations Department
Hamad Medical Corporation
Tel. No.: +974 4439 5271
Fax No.: +974 4439 5002    

© Press Release 2011